Spookywoods sees ticket sales surge after billboard controversy

When you’re in the haunted attraction business like Kersey Valley Spookywoods, it pays to be scary. It’s a fact that holds true even amid the recent controversy swirling around the Spookywoods billboard advertisements dotting Triad roadways.

Spookywoods’ billboards were pulled down last month following complaints by local residents that they were too disturbing to be shown with some people suggesting the advertisements promoted violence against women and children.

Spookywoods in Archdale saw the number of pre-sale tickets sold this year increase 20 percent from 2016 with the company selling more than 3,000 before the attraction opened in September for the Halloween season.

It’s the most pre-sale tickets sold in Spookywoods’ 32-year history, and Wolgemuth attributes the increase to the attention the attraction has received as a result of the complaints.

“The more people talked about it, the more tickets we sold,” he said. “It didn’t hurt us.”

The billboards were taken down in September by Fairway Outdoor Advertising after the company received complaints about the photo showing one of the attraction’s characters, called “Sydney All Wired Up,” Wohlgemuth said.

The idea behind the character is that she is a young girl who has performed several experiments on herself, and as a result, has barbed wire wrapped around her face, which is also covered in blood.

“We wanted to show what you see when you come to our attraction,” Wohlgemuth said.

But for some, the picture of the girl caked in blood with wire across her face is too much. Many of the complaints about the advertisement, some of which have been posted on Fairway Outdoor's Facebook page, say the image promotes child and domestic abuse by showing a young girl being tortured.

One user wrote in part: “I am sickened by Fairway of Greensboro and Winston-Salem’s blatant promotion of violence against women and children. Billboards advertising Kersey Valley's Spookywoods depict graphic images of a tortured women and girls with blood and barbed wire. As a father I am disturbed that I have no way of protecting my children from seeing these atrocities as we drive down the road.”

A representative for Fairway Outdoor could not be reached for comment.

Wohlgemuth emphasizes that the “Sydney All Wired Up” character is not a victim, but the aggressor: she’s the one coming after those brave enough to enter the haunted attraction. He also notes that the woman behind the character is 21 years old.

The image of "Sydney All Wired Up" was actually toned down from other versions considered with Fairway Outdoor approving the advertisement before it went up, Wohlgemuth said.

“We have no intention of traumatizing the Triad,” he said. “Our ethics are not to scare little kids at all. It’s just makeup.” '

It’s not the first time a haunted attraction in the Triad has experienced controversy for its billboards. Woods of Terror in Greensboro experienced a similar situation a few years ago, said owner Eddie McLaurin.

“It’s great for business and it ups ticket sales,” he said.

Woods of Terror has only received about three complaints about its billboards so far this year.

“This year hasn’t been as bad with Spookywoods wrapping barbed wire around a girl’s face,” McLaurin said. “That took some of the heat off of me.”

While he has softened most of the billboards for Woods of Terror, McLaurin said he did put up one “aggressive” advertisement this year, featuring a woman with blood dripping from her mouth and alien-like teeth.

“I was looking to get some PR like [Wohlgemuth] got,” he said. “We are a scary haunted house and that’s what I’m trying to display. We’re scary; don’t bring your kids here.”

Wohlgemuth has used billboards to promote Spookywoods in the past, but this is the first time he has done so in five years. The company, which has focused more on digital marketing in recent years, decided to use billboards after being approached by Fairway Outdoor, he said.

The advertisements that were taken down have been replaced with ones blurring the photo of “Sydney All Wired Up," but whether Wohlgemuth uses billboards again to advertise for Spookywoods remains to be seen.